


I'll Always Take Care of You

by mehna



Series: Our Little Family [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Comforting Alec, Comforting Magnus Bane, Cute Ending, Established Relationship, Fluff, Just all fluff, M/M, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Sick Madzie, it's nothing serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 12:39:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17366009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mehna/pseuds/mehna
Summary: Alec has barely walked out of the precinct when his phone starts buzzing frantically in his pocket. He pulls it out and answers, mumbling a “Lightwood,” as he tugs up the collar of his jacket against the harsh winter wind.“Alec?” Catarina’s voice comes through, sounding far too concerned for Alec’s peace of mind.“What’s wrong?” he asks, immediately on alert. “Are you hurt?”“No, no, I’m fine, it’s Madzie,” she rushes out. That does nothing to ease the rigidness in Alec’s shoulders; if anything, it makes it worse.***Or, the one where Madzie's sick at school and Alec and Magnus take care of her





	I'll Always Take Care of You

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyy,
> 
> So, my little cousin was sick this morning and I was the only one available to look after him, and that's how the idea for this fic came about. A lot of of it is pulled from today and when I was younger and my Aunt used to look after me if I was home sick from school. 
> 
> The idea wouldn't go, so I just quickly wrote it when he was sleeping and haven't even proof read it. I'm not that happy with the way it turned out, but I've written it and got myself excited for idea of posting something so I'm putting it up anyway. 
> 
> For those of you who read my WIP, I'm sorry, I'm working on it, it's just been difficult lately with my health going downhill again but like I said in the last chapter I posted, I'm not giving up. I hope you can still be patient. 
> 
> Anyway, enough rambling, enjoy!

Alec has barely walked out of the precinct, thinking about curling up next to Magnus where he’d left him with a kiss on the forehead earlier this morning when his phone starts buzzing frantically in his pocket.

He pulls it out and answers, mumbling a “Lightwood,” as he tugs up the collar of his jacket against the harsh winter wind.

“ _Alec_?” Catarina’s voice comes through, sounding far too concerned for Alec’s peace of mind.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, immediately on alert. Being a Detective has only made things like this worse, knowing all that could go wrong when you answer the phone to an anxious voice. “Are you hurt?”

“ _No, no, I’m fine, it’s Madzie_ ,” she rushes out. That does _nothing_ to ease the rigidness in Alec’s shoulders; if anything, it makes it worse. “ _Her school just called me, they said she’s been sick and she won’t stop crying and I don’t know what even happened! She was fine this morning! I know you’re probably busy with that pile up on Williamsburg Bridge, we’ve just had everyone brought in and I know it’s Magnus’ day off but he’s not picking up and neither is Raph and I have no one else to call and they can’t let me leave-”_

“Cat, it’s okay. Just take some deep breaths, okay?” Alec instructs, already turning around and heading towards Madzie’s school instead of the subway station, listening as Catarina draws in deep gulping breaths. “I’ll go pick her up and drop by so you can check on her, then she can come home with me. It’ll be okay.”

“ _Really?_ ” Cat practically sobs in relief. _“What about work?_ ”

“I got called in just after midnight. Off the record, it was some deal gone wrong between two gangs,” there’s a huff of anger from the other end and Alec can’t help but feel the same, thinking about the thirty or so people who were injured – some of them just kids – because of some petty dispute.“We managed to book most of them in so Luke told me to head home since there’s nothing we can do until the witnesses are healed up for statements.”

“ _Okay_ ,” she sighs heavily and in the quiet few seconds of silence between them, Alec can hear the rush of people moving and shouting orders in the background from the hospital.

“I’m ten minutes away from her school; I’ll be at the hospital in twenty and you can check her over.”

“ _You’re a lifesaver, Alec,_ ” she says and Alec snorts to himself.

“Pretty sure you’re the one that saves lives out of the two of us, now go and do just that and try not to worry too much about Madzie, I’m sure she’s fine.”

Catarina thanks him again before hanging up and Alec picks up his pace, rushing to the Elementary School. He gives his name and signs in at the Reception, grateful for the fact that he’s on the list for being allowed to pick her up and avoiding the faffing about had he not been.

The lady at the desk waves for him to follow her as she begins walking through the halls. “You’re her uncle, right? I remember you picking her up before.”

“Yeah,” Alec nods, beaming a little as he adds, “she’s my Goddaughter.”

The lady smiles at him before knocking on the door they’ve stopped at and walking in without waiting for a response. Alec’s eyes zero in on Madzie, sat on the couch in the corner that is half filled with stuffed teddies, dried tear tracks stained on her cheeks.

As soon as she sees him, she bursts into tears again and Alec’s heart breaks as she clambers out of her seat, stumbling over towards him into his open arms.

“Hey there, Squirt,” Alec murmurs softly into her ear as lifted her up, her sobs becoming heart-wrenchingly louder at the sound of his soothing tone. Alec remembers when he was younger and his Mom had picked him up from school once when he was ill, how he’d started crying as soon as he saw her and then practically drowned her in tears when she’d said that it was okay. He can’t believe he’s the adult in that situation now.

“She’s been sick twice, and she said her stomach is hurting too, so I think it’s a bug. But you’ll probably want to get it checked out,” the Nurse informs him.

Alec nods, accepting the tissue held out to him and setting Madzie down so he can gently wipe her face. “I’m taking her to her Mom at the hospital so she can get checked over.”

At that, Madzie’s big brown eyes begin to water again. “M-mommy?” she sniffles.

Alec gives her a reassuring smile. “Yeah, Squirt. Your Mommy will make sure you’re okay, and then you’ll come home with me.”

Madzie nods, shooting him a wobbly smile as she tries to reign in her tears. He helps her get her coat, gloves, hat and scarf on, picking up her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder before lifting her into his arms. Alec thanks the nurse and the lady from the desk as she escorts him back out into the cold and he hails a cab straight away, not wanting to risk Madzie catching something else when she already isn’t feeling well.

***

Alec’s pretty sure he, Catarina and Madzie all sigh in relief when Cat confirms it’s nothing more than a bug.

There are doctors and nurses bustling about outside Cat’s office with the influx of patients in ER from the pileup, but she took Madzie’s blood sample and temperature straight away which Alec was thankful for. He wants to get Madzie home as quickly as possible and he has no doubt Cat felt the same, judging by the way she’s getting her daughter ready to head outside again, kissing her cheek repeatedly.

“Mommy has to work so Uncle Alec and Uncle Magnus will take care of you okay? I’ll come pick you up as soon as I’m done here.” Cat says, fussing about with some papers, getting a small bottle of pills out of a drawer and handing them to Alec.

“We can keep her overnight Cat, Magnus has the next few days off so he’ll be home and you shouldn’t stress yourself out too much, especially with all that needing your attention,” Alec jerks his head to the door, where outside seems like a mad-house of people rushing and panicking.

Cat sighs, reaching forward to kiss Alec’s cheek. “You two are the best Godparents I could have hoped for. Thank you for doing this Alec.”

“It’s nothing,” Alec shrugs, smiling a little as he looks at a dosing Madzie in his arms. “We better leave you to it. Magnus and I will keep you updated; you just focus on getting my witnesses better.”

He gets a fond shake of the head and another kiss on the cheek. Cat kisses Madzie, who mumbles a goodbye to her mother, and then she and Alec are leaving, hailing another cab.

Alec sighs heavily as he realises it’s already 9:30 and that Magnus is probably up by now; so much for cuddling up against him and falling asleep, though as he looks down at Madzie snuggled up to his side, he can’t really complain, he’ll just cuddle her instead.

***

“Do you think you’re gonna be sick again?” Alec asks Madzie as he helps her shuck off her coat and scarf.

Madzie shakes her head, then frowns, then nods, her eyes brimming with tears as she looks downright miserable at the prospect of puking again.

“Hey, hey,” Alec shushes her, gently rubbing her back as he carries her to the room he and Magnus had set aside as hers from the moment she was born. “It’s okay Squirt. Think of it this way, once it’s all out, you’ll start feeling better. And then if you’re up for it, maybe Uncle Magnus can make some of his special blueberry pancakes. How does that sound?”

Even through the water works, Madzie’s eyes seem to brighten a little at the idea of pancakes and Alec can’t blame her, Magnus makes the best pancakes. He makes the best everything. Sometimes Alec wonders if he’s married someone magical, in the ‘could do magic’ way, not in the sappy way (even though Alec thinks that too, much to Izzy’s and Jace’s chagrin, but shut up, he loves his husband a lot, okay?).

Alec helps Madzie get into a comfy pair of pyjamas with a pair of fluffy socks too before trying to get her to drink some water, which she thankfully manages. She insists on wanting to brush her teeth, claiming her mouth feels ‘ _icky’_ , so Alec leaves her to her own devices in the bathroom as he sets up a bucket that they can put by the bed while she naps for a bit.

“You can sleep in here if you want to Squirt, but I’m gonna nap for a bit too and the beds big enough if you want some cuddles,” Alec offers with a grin, hoping she’ll agree to stay with him.

When she nods, she and Alec walk into his and Magnus’ bedroom, and Alec is more than a little surprised to see Magnus still in bed, the TV on the start up screen for Tarzan and a bunch of extra pillows in the bed.

“Uncle Magnus!” Madzie beams, her voice still a little scratchy and face a little blotchy but looking happier than she has all day. She curls up in bed next to him immediately, sipping on the straw he holds out to her for some water.

“Hey Sweet Pea, how you feeling?” Magnus asks, stroking her hair back and kissing her forehead.

Alec smiles gently and leaves them to it after placing the bucket on the bedside. He walks into the closet, shucking off his clothes and changing into some sweatpants before climbing into bed on the other side of Madzie.

Magnus leans over, pecking his lips once, twice and then his cheek before shuffling back down to rest his head on his pillow.

“Cat called?” Alec asks, nodding his head to the TV where the movie was now playing and then Madzie, whose watching with drowsy eyes.

“Cat called,” Magnus confirms with a nod, reaching his hand over Madzie’s head to gently stroke through Alec’s hair. Alec sighs, curling up under the duvet and closing his eyes. “She told me about the pileup, I’m glad Luke gave you the day off. You’ve been working a lot these past few days.”

“Crime doesn’t stop,” Alec mumbles into his pillow.

“I know Darling, get some rest now. Madzie and I will watch Tarzan, won’t we Sweet Pea?” he asks.

“Mhm,” she murmurs, reaching a tiny hand up to pat Alec’s scruffy cheek before moving closer to rest her head on his shoulder. “Just don’t snore, Uncle Alec.”

Magnus lets out a little snicker and Alec pouts at them, jutting his lower lip out petulantly. “I don’t snore.”

“Sure you don’t Sweetheart,” Magnus assures, not sounding the least bit sincere. Alec just scoffs and lets sleep take over, but not before he hears Madzie mutter “he sounds like a lawn mower, Uncle Magnus.”

***

When Alec wakes up, Chairman Meow is lying above his head with his tail swishing in Alec’s face, and Madzie is curled up against his side, drooling a little on his chest. Magnus is nowhere to be found, but Alec can hear soft music coming from outside the bedroom so as gently as possible, he extracts himself from the bed.

Madzie snuffles, her face scrunching up in displeasure before she shifts and her features even out again. He presses a kiss to the top of her head before padding out the room, grinning when Magnus pops out from the doorway to the kitchen wearing bright yellow rubber gloves.

“Sleep well?” he asks, beckoning Alec over, who goes obligingly and wraps his arms around Magnus’ waist as he nods.

“I would have done the cleaning,” Alec mutters, letting his lips brush over Magnus’ neck and shoulder where his t-shirt is slipping a little.

“Nonsense, Darling. You needed to rest.” Magnus kisses his cheek, nipping at his jaw then pulling away to continue scrubbing at the stove.

“I’ll relieve you from laundry duties this weekend then,” Alec bargains, grinning when Magnus huffs at him in amusement.

“When did we become so domestic?” he asks, waving a hand airily around him to gesture between them. “The cooking, the cleaning, the groceries, you’re not wearing a shirt right now and only 98% of me wants to jump you. That’s a whole 2% less than usual.”

Alec scoffs, rolling his eyes fondly at Magnus’ antics as he makes them both some coffee.

“Even with Madzie today,” Magnus adds. “That’s so very domestic of us.”

“Maybe it’s us unconsciously preparing for when we have our own kid.”

It just slips out.

Alec freezes.

Sure, they’ve been married for almost two years, dating for four before that, but this isn’t a conversation they’ve ever had before. Alec desperately wants kids, but he didn’t mean to just put it out there like that.

He chances a glance at Magnus, who’s staring at him, mouth agape, the sponge in his hand slowly dripping water on the floor.

Alec clears his throat awkwardly and takes a sip of the scalding coffee, the burn helping to clear his mind a little. “I’m gonna make some potato waffles, maybe Madzie might be up to eating a few. I’ll go check on her.”

There’s a brief moment where Magnus looks like he might say something, but then he nods with a slightly forced smile and returns to cleaning, leaving Alec to shuffle out of the kitchen with an odd sense of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

Maybe Magnus doesn’t want kids? Sure, he’s amazing with children, and even more amazing with Madzie. He’s her Godfather after all, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants children of his own.

Alec hopes they can just forget about this conversation and not make anything awkward. He can keep his disappointment to himself.

When he gets to the bedroom, Madzie’s tossing and turning a little, looking slightly agitated but still seemingly asleep.

“Hey,” Alec murmurs, gently shaking her shoulder. It’s almost 2pm and she needs to eat and have something to drink. “You need to get up now, Madzie.”

She blinks her eyes open blearily and Alec smiles, helping her sit up. Alec winces in sympathy when she clutches at her stomach and reaches for the bucket as quick as he can, placing it in front of her just as she starts throwing up.

“It’s okay Squirt, you’re just letting the bug out, remember? It’s all okay,” he assures, rubbing her back up and down.

Magnus, upon hearing the commotion, has come rushing in looking a little panicked. “Oh, Sweet Pea,” he murmurs dejectedly as Madzie starts to cry again.

Alec places the bucket on the floor and lifts Madzie up out of the bed, shushing her gently. “It’s okay baby, don’t cry.” Magnus walks over and Alec hands her to him. “Uncle Magnus will help you get cleaned up, okay?”

“Okay,” she nods, her lower lip trembling as she sobs quietly.

As Magnus takes her to the bathroom, Alec cleans up around the bedroom. He opens the curtains and windows, letting the fresh, crisp air in and ties off the bag in the bucket to go in the trash.

He can hear Madzie being sick again, and he hopes it’s the last time, not wanting her to be in any more pain.

Chairman Meow is looking around curiously, and Alec reaches over to scratch behind his ears. “Madzie isn’t feeling very well,” he says, grinning as gets a lick to his palm. “You’ll give her some cuddles to make her feel better, won’t you?” 

Alec takes the little meow as an affirmative.

By the time Magnus and Madzie return, she’s not crying anymore so Alec slumps a little in relief.

“Do you want to try and eat something Sweet Pea?” Magnus asks her with a reassuring smile.

“How about potato waffles? My Mom always used to make them for me when I was sick. I guess she didn’t get the chicken noodle soup memo,” Alec adds, grinning when Madzie smiles at him and nods.

“You go take a shower,” Magnus orders, patting Alec’s chest as he and Madzie walk past him. “I’ll put the waffles on.”

“Are you saying I smell?” Alec asks in mock indignation. He sniffs himself and huffs at Magnus’ retreating back. “I don’t smell.”

“Just like you don’t snore? Sure, Sweetheart, Madzie and I believe you.”

Madzie giggles happily, and Alec can’t bring himself to argue because he’s just happy to hear her laugh again, even though he _knows_ he doesn’t snore. No way.

***

By the time he’s showered and dressed, Magnus and Madzie are sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket and watching The Princess and The Frog.

Just as he’s about to join them, a timer goes off in the kitchen. “I’ll get it,” he says to Magnus when he starts to get up.

After plating up the food, Alec squeezes in on the couch and hands Madzie her plate. “Don’t worry if you can’t finish it, just have as much as you can,” he tells her softly before taking a bite of his own waffle and scooping up some veg.

They eat in silence as they watch the film, Alec occasionally feeding Magnus spoonfuls from his plate. He sees Madzie sipping from a straw from a bottle of tonic water and inwardly cringes.

He knows it’s great for the stomach, especially when you’ve been sick, but he _hated_ it as a kid. He doesn’t understand how Madzie can swallow it down without crunching up her face in distaste.

Magnus catches his eye and grins at him, no doubt amused by his mortified face, the cheeky shit. 

Thankfully, Madzie begins to feel a lot better after eating and taking the medicine that Cat gave, much to Alec and Magnus’ relief. She has a slight stomach ache and fever, but it’s nothing compared to earlier that morning when Alec had picked her up from school.

They finish watching the film and then Magnus brings out a puzzle that they all attempt to do, but fail miserably when Chairman knocks over the half they get through.

Instead, they do some drawing until it’s time for dinner by which point Cat has finally left the hospital and calls them.

_“Is she okay?”_

“Mhm,” Alec nods, looking over to where Madzie’s eating and grinning at a story about Raphael Magnus is telling her from their high school days. “She hasn’t been sick again after you last called and she’s kept down food too.”

“ _Oh thank god,_ ” Cat sighs. Alec can relate to her relief. “ _I don’t want her to go school tomorrow, just in case. Do you think Magnus can watch her for the day?”_

“Of course Cat, she’s happy to stay here overnight so don’t worry about having to rush here in the morning. You go home and rest, I’m sure it’s been a busy day, and then you can get her tomorrow after work.”

After Cat agrees, he passes the phone to Madzie so she can talk to her while he and Magnus clean up.

“She’s staying?” Magnus asks.

Alec nods, turning the tap on and beginning to wash the dishes. “I called Luke earlier; he said I can go in for the afternoon instead of morning so I’ll be here with you guys until then.”

“Okay, good.” Magnus kisses his cheek, and then looks over to where Madzie is chirping happily on the phone to Cat. “I’m glad she’s better. I was really worried when Cat called me.”

“Me too,” Alec agrees with a frown, “she looked so miserable at school. I hated it.”

Magnus hums, eyeing Alec thoughtfully before shaking his head and moving away. Alec figures he’ll ask what that inquiring look was about later.

***

They’ve been curled up in bed, Madzie in between them with a hot water bottle for her stomach as Magnus read quietly from one of her favourite books.

She’d fallen asleep a few minutes before, and now Magnus and Alec were just sitting in a comfortable silence, occasionally looking at Madzie and watching her sleep peacefully.

“Earlier,” Magnus begins, his throat sounding a little dry. He reaches over for Alec’s hand and links their fingers together, steeling himself for whatever it is he’s going to say. “Earlier, when you said about preparing for our own kids...is that something you want? Our own kids?”

“I-”

“Because I do.” Magnus rushes out quickly, leaving Alec to stare at him dumbly. “Want kids. With you...obviously.”

“Really?” Alec squeaks, flushes, clears his throat and then says again, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Magnus breathes out, tightening his hold on Alec’s hand. “I thought you were joking earlier so I didn’t say anything even though I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. But I really want to start a family with you.”

Alec beams, smiling so wide his face starts to hurt, but he can’t stop it, especially when Magnus grins just as widely back at him. “I want that too.”

“Yeah?” Magnus asks, his eyes bright with hope, even though he obviously already knows the answer.

“Yeah,” Alec answers anyway, still grinning like an idiot.

Alec accepts the kiss as easily as breathing, even though it’s a little awkward because they both can’t stop smiling.

“We can start looking into it this weekend? Adoption...or maybe even surrogacy?” Magnus mumbles against his lips, and Alec’s nodding away, overcome with happiness.

“I love you,” he says, meaning it with every inch of his body, with every breath he takes.

“I love you,” Magnus responds immediately, “so, _so_ much.”

“I love you too,” comes a voice from between them, and they both look down to see Madzie smiling at them tiredly. “But sleep,” she adds with a pout.

Magnus and Alec laugh, probably a little hysterically in their euphoria, and they lean down to kiss Madzie’s cheeks.

“We love you too,” they both murmur, pressing kisses all over her face and delighting in the giggles she answers them with.

Later, when they’re all curled together and drifting off to sleep, Alec can’t help but dream of the brother or sister Madzie will soon have.

**Author's Note:**

> If there's any mistakes, let me know and I'll fix them when I get the chance. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! :) <3


End file.
